Betsy Duncan Smith in her leather outfit at the Conservative conference in Manchester. Photograph: David Hartley/Rupert Hartley

Frankly, any Tory wife who wears a brilliantly on-trend, borderline-bonkers leather-panelled shift dress to party conference is all right by me.

The fact that Betsy Duncan Smith clearly considers the whole get-up an absolute hoot makes it even better (no point going fashion-forward unless you're going to enjoy the attention.) What I love about thisis that it is not "dressing up for conference" in the sense of wearing a pretty dress in order to be helpfully decorative to one's husband. The all-black, the don't-mess leather, the no-frills handbag: it is very independent in spirit, this outfit. The Contrast Sleeve, as beautifullymodelled here, is a hot look right now. (Translation: it was on the catwalks six months ago and every fashion assistant in London or Paris is right now wearing a Zara version.)

This fashionable detail will be way over the heads of most conference attendees, but embracing fashion in this way is guaranteed to flush out the one person in the room with whom one can have an intelligent conversation about ankle versus knee length boots and what exactly one is supposed to do about the tights issue in this weather (such a bonus when the eurozone chat gets too deadly). However, there is a flaw in Betsy Duncan Smith's outfit. The necklace doesn't work at all. Yes, Lady Mary from Downton Abbey is having a moment, but not with that dress. Coco Chanel said that the secret to elegance was always to take off the last accessory you put on. Swap the necklace for pearl stud earrings next time, Betsy.